About the Exhibition

The Wishing Tree transforms BAC Gallery into a tree shrine. Visitors to the gallery are invited to participate by attaching their wishes to the overhanging branches. Wishing trees are sacred places found all over the world, where people are invited to attach prayers onto the branches of sacred trees in hopes that their wishes will be answered. This exchange transforms latent desire into faith in the power of the universe. Nesting in the branches of the shrine is a herd of Deerfly. The Deerfly is a magical creature that continues to be the most significant iconographic symbol in Goodman’s work. Half butterfly, half deer, the Deerfly represents both spiritual and physical metamorphosis.

Opening Reception:
Friday, September 28, 6 - 9pm

DUMBO Arts Festival Hours:
Saturday, September 29, noon- 8pm & Sunday, September 30, noon - 6pm

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Based on daily life experience, dreams and journeys, Abby Goodman creates an autobiographical pastiche complete with beautiful beasts and barren landscapes. Goodman uses this illusive world as a platform to address the human condition and its effect on the human spirit. Working with a variety of media, Goodman utilizes her dedication to process in a material based practice to emphasize content. Found objects, reconstituted components, and traditional techniques create an iconography unique to this imaginary universe. This imagery acts as a harbinger, yet functions as a symbol of hope.

Abby Goodman was born in 1972 in Philadelphia, PA. Her desire to learn metallurgy led her to the French Alps, where she apprenticed an ironworker. Upon returning she accepted a job as a welder at a bronze foundry executing bronze sculptures for the public arena. Goodman continued her training at Syracuse University, where she earned a MFA, then moved to New York City.

She has been included in several publications, including New American Paintings, the New York Times and the cover of Studio Visit Magazine. Her most recent exhibitions include WE COME FROM BROOKLYN, at the Galerie allerART in Bludenz, Austria, 20 in 11 at the Woodward Gallery in NYC, Party At Lucky Chengs, a solo exhibition in the LZ Project Space, and An Island Now Peopled, a two-person show at the Chashama Chelsea Project Space. Goodman was recently represented as a featured artist through Rush Arts Gallery for the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. Goodman is a current resident in the Chashama Studio Residency Program.